Friday, February 13, 2015

On our twice-daily observation
drives, as you might expect, we spend a lot of time at the dens, observing
hyenas. But their territories are vast, and in our time exploring them, we
often come across other mammalian carnivores that are of interest to us, and we
record the number and locations of these for population estimates. Some of the
more common sightings include a few of the small canids: black-backed jackals, which are often seen in groups of two, as they are monogamous,

Black-backed jackal

and bat-eared foxes.

Bat-eared fox

Slightly more rare is a lion
sighting, usually either eating or sleeping: a lion’s two favorite activities.

Lion at sunrise

Occasionally, we’re able to catch a lion-hyena interaction,
usually over a carcass, where there is a fight for control over the food.
Contrary to popular belief, lions steal kills from hyenas about as frequently
as the reverse happens. Spotted hyenas are not the obligate scavengers that
many people think they are; they actually hunt about 95% of their own food in
the Mara.

Rarely, we’re lucky enough to spot cheetahs, or a leopard.

Cheetah with her cubs, Photo by: Eli Strauss

Both are very difficult to find; there are only about 60 adult cheetahs in the Mara currently (as reported by the Mara Conservancy in their monthly
update), and leopards are in similar scarcity and are solitary hunters.
Catching a leopard at a kill is very exciting, because often to protect their
kill, they will carry the carcass up a tree. At that point their dinner is
pretty secure, because anything with the gumption to scare off a leopard, like
a lion or a hyena, isn’t going to make it up the tree; and anything that can
make it up the tree that may be interested, like a baboon or a vulture, isn’t
going to mess with a leopard.

One of the most common carnivore
sightings for us, and also one of my favorites, is the banded mongoose.

Banded mongoose

Banded
mongooses are very gregarious animals, so we’ll often see them in groups
ranging anywhere from ten to thirty. These little guys are cute, but they’re
also ferocious. Although the majority of their diet is comprised of insects and
small rodents, they have been known to take down some pretty scary snakes here
and there. For a king cobra, there’s nothing worse than the site of a dozen
banded mongooses charging toward you.

Mongoose cuddle puddle

One of these mornings, if I happen to be greeted by a black mamba when I step out of my tent, I hope there’s a mongoose around to save the day!

Great question Anonymous! We know less about cheetahs and the least about leopards as compared to lions and hyenas but some of our thoughts are:

--Cheetahs and leopards live at lower densities than lions and hyenas, which simply put just means there are less in a given area.--Cheetahs went through a population bottleneck about 10,000 years ago which decreased their genetic diversity, making them more susceptible to diseases.--Leopards we believe tend to be more nocturnal and spend more time in the thicket or in trees, also making sighting more difficult.--Cheetahs and leopards both rank lower than lions and hyenas in the hierarchy of carnivores in the Mara so there there is some top-down control. For instance, lions and hyenas are generally able to steal a kill from a cheetah or leopard.

We don't have a lot of information on specific poaching numbers of cheetahs and leopards in the Mara, though leopards are certainly highly sought after for their pelt.

Though less research has been done on cheetahs and leopards, there are two cheetah projects currently running the Mara if you want to check out more about them! The Mara Meru Project http://marameru.org/en/ and Kenya Wildlife Trusts's Mara Cheetah Project: http://kenyawildlifetrust.org/index.php/2014-08-15-16-12-28/the-mara-cheetah-project

Banded mongooses and racoons are actually not closely related. They're both mammals and carnivores, but after that, they split.

Banded mongooses are part of the Viverridae family, which is actually in the 'cat-like' suborder, Feliformia. Racoons on the other hand are part of the Procyonidae family, which is part of the 'dog-like' suborder, Caniformia.

We put up a family tree showing the split between Feliformia and Caniformia on our Facebook page, you should check it out! Check out where hyenas fall in relation to them both!

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